Cost/Financial Aid

What Financial Support is Available for Graduate Students?

Graduate students accepted into the Biological Sciences or Microbiology graduate programs are either awarded support through the Department of Biological Sciences as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) or from individual Faculty Advisors' sponsored grant funds as Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs).

GTAs are awarded upon acceptance to the program and may be renewed annually based upon performance in teaching and satisfactory progress towards degree for up to 3 years for MS candidates and 5 years for PhD candidates. The current salary for 9-month GTAs (no teaching in summer) is $19,000. Annual GTA stipends may be supplemented by Faculty Advisors' grant funds. PhD students are paid $21,000/9-mo upon completion of the Comprehensive Exams.

GRAs are awarded by individual Faculty Advisors from funds available on research grants upon acceptance to the program. Individual stipend amounts and conditions of renewal are determined by the individual Faculty Advisor, but currently funded GRA stipends range from $19,000 - $23,000 depending upon status (MS or PhD) and tenure of student (years in program). GRA support is negotiated by prospective students with individual Faculty Advisors.

Health Insurance is required for all graduate students and may be purchased through Clemson University. To partially offset some of the health insurance premium costs associated with this requirement, Clemson will provide all Graduate Assistants (GTA or GRA) who purchase health insurance from Clemson with an annual non-refundable, non-transferable health insurance subsidy of $250 per semester to partially defray an annual premium amount of ~$860 (single student rate). Graduate students who can document Health Insurance coverage with a private plan will not have to pay these fees. Current costs can be found at www.clemson.edu/campus-life/campus-services/redfern/insurance/faq.html.